UK’s biggest cities demand devolution 'at same speed as Scotland'
Cardiff and Glasgow among UK cities calling for regional devolution
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Your support makes all the difference.The leaders Britain’s biggest cities have demanded that Government grant them devolution “at the same speed” as Scotland.
In a move that will add fire to the regional devolution debate, the Core Cities UK campaign said the voters of British cities “will not accept delays” or “half measures” in the delivery of regional devolution follow the Scottish independence referendum.
The call to seize back control from Westminster came at the Labour Party conference in Manchester and is backed by Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield, as well as Cardiff and Glasgow, which have recently joined the newly expanded body.
The leaders of the 10 cities welcomed the statement last week from David Cameron that the UK’s great cities must be “empowered”. However they said: “Our communities, out voters, will not accept delays based on constitutional wrangles, or half measures delivered through political compromise.”
In a joint letter to the first secretary of state William Hague, the cities said could add 1.16 million new jobs and an extra £222 billion to the UK economy by 2030 if they were granted further powers.
In the letter to Mr Hague, who has been nominated by David Cameron to deliver constitutional change following the Scottish referendum, the group said: “A No for independence is a Yes for devolution, not just in Scotland, but across the United Kingdom. Devolution is now the most important constitutional political issue facing Parliament, and the 10 Welsh, Scottish and English cities of the newly expanded ‘Core Cities UK’ have met today to agree plans for how this can happen across the whole of the Union.
It continued: “Devolution cannot just be to national parliaments, replacing a centralised Government in Westminster with one in Scotland, Wales or indeed England. An English parliament alone is not the answer. We therefore welcome the Prime Minister’s statement that Government must “empower our great cities”.
According to the body the eight English cities alone could add an economy the size of Denmark to the UK if they were able to compete for 259,000 more graduates, provide transport infrastructure to support 250,000 more commuters and plough £104bn into capital investment projects
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